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Ballahoo-class schooner
|Class before= |Class after=''Cuckoo'' (or Bird) class |Subclasses= |Cost= |Built range= |In service range= |In commission range= |Total ships building= |Total ships planned=18 |Total ships completed=18 |Total ships cancelled= |Total ships active= |Total ships laid up= |Total ships lost=12 |Total ships retired= |Total ships preserved= }} |module2= }} (bm) |Ship length= (gundeck); (keel) |Ship beam= |Ship hold depth= |Ship sail plan=Schooner |Ship complement=20 |Ship armament=4 x 12-pounder carronades (Pierced for 10) |Ship motto= |Ship nickname= |Ship honours= |Ship badge= }} }} The Ballahoo class (also known as the Fish class) was a Royal Navy class of eighteen 4-gun schooners built under contract in Bermuda during the Napoleonic War. The class was an attempt by the Admiralty to harness the expertise of Bermudian shipbuilders who were renowned for their fast-sailing craft.Winfield (2008), p. 358. The Admiralty ordered twelve vessels on 23 June 1804, and a further six on 11 December 1805. Construction A number of different builders in different yards built them, with all the first batch launching in 1804 and 1805. The second batch were all launched in 1807. Goodrich & Co acted as the main contractor to the Navy Board, and in many cases the actual builder is unrecorded. They were all constructed of Bermuda cedar. This durable, native wood, abundant in Bermuda, was strong and light, and did not need seasoning. Shipbuilders used it for framing as well as planking, which reduced vessel weight. It was also highly resistant to rot and marine borers, giving Bermudian vessels a potential lifespan of twenty years and more, even in the worm-infested waters of the Chesapeake and the Caribbean. Operational lives Of the eighteen vessels in the class, only two were not lost or disposed of during the war, surviving to be sold in 1815-6. Twelve were wartime losses, and four were disposed of before 1815. William James wrote scathingly of the Ballahoo and subsequent ''Cuckoo''-class schooners, pointing out the high rate of loss, primarily to wrecking or foundering, but also to enemy action.James (1837) Vol. V, pp. 45–46. He reports that they were "sent to 'take, burn, and destroy' the vessels of war and merchantmen of the enemy". The record suggests that none seem to have done so successfully. In the only two (arguably three) cases when the Cuckoo-class schooners did engage enemy vessels, in each case the enemy force was much stronger and overwhelmed the Cuckoo-class schooners. James also remarks that: }} Ships Orders of 23 June 1803 The first twelve were intended for three different stations: *Newfoundland: Herring, Mackerel, Pilchard, and Capelin *Jamaica:- Barracuta, Whiting, Pike, and Haddock *Leeward Islands: Flying Fish, Ballahou, Grouper, and Snapper. Orders of 11 December 1805 References * * Middleton, H.G. "A Listing of Naval Ships Built in Bermuda," Bermuda Historical Quarterly 18:2 (1961), 49-56. * Roche, Jean-Michel (2005) Dictionnaire des Bâtiments de la Flotte de Guerre Française de Colbert à nos Jours. (Group Retozel-Maury Millau). * , p. 361. Ballahoo-class schooners Category:1800s ships Category:Schooners of the Royal Navy Category:Ships built in Bermuda